Praetorius, Jacob I
Praetorius, Schulz, Schulze, Schultz, Hieronymus, *10 August 1560 Hamburg, †27 January 1629 Hamburg, composer, organist and publisher, son of Jacob I. He studied in Hamburg and Cologne, then in 1580 became an organist in Erfurt. In 1582, he returned to Hamburg, where he initially assisted his father at St. James’ Church, and after his death (1586) took over his position as organist. Praetorius’ masses belong to the ad imitationem type, and nearly half of his motets are early examples of German polychoral compositions in the Venetian style. He also composed simple four-part arrangements of German Lutheran hymns, with the main melody in the highest voice. In his organ works, contrapuntal settings dominate, based on a cantus firmus carried through different voices.
Literature: B. Friederich Der Vokalstil des Hieronim Praetorius, Hamburg 1932; F.K. Gable The Polychoral Motets of Hieronim Praetorius, thesis, University of Iowa, 1966; F.K. Gable Zusammenhänge zwischen den Vokal- und Orgel-Magnificats von Hieronymus Praetorius, in: Festschrift for H. Vogel, ed. C. Johnson, Orcas 2006; F.K. Gable Church Music and Cultural Pride: Hieronymus Praetorius, Hamburg’s first great composer, in: Festschrift for J. Jute-Powell, ed. A. Scott, Ann Arbor 2012; E. Criscuola De Laix Hieronymus Praetorius, music print, and the cultures of the motet in Hamburg, ca. 1600, in: Hamburg: Eine Metropolregion zwischen früher Neuzeit und Aufklärung, ed. J.A. Steiger, Berlin 2012; P. Herok Opracowania Magnificat wybranych kompozytorów luterańskich XVII i 1. połowy XVIII wieku. I: Kompozycje do tekstu łacińskiego, “Liturgia Sacra: Liturgia, musica, ars” XXX, 2024.
Compositions:
Instrumental:
organ:
2 arrangements of German chorale
9 arrangements of the Magnificat
Vocal:
Cantiones sacrae, 47 works for 5–8, 10, or 12 voices, published in Hamburg 1599
Magnificat (…) super octo tonos consuetos in all tones, 8-, 10-, and 12-voice, published in Hamburg 1602, expanded to include one arrangement titled Canticum Beatae Mariae Virginis, 2nd edition 1622
Liber missarum, six masses for 5, 6, and 8 voices, published in Hamburg 1616
Cantiones variae, 17 works for 5–8, 10, 12, 16 and 20 voices, published in Hamburg 1618
Cantiones novae, 22 works for 5–8, 10, 15 voices, published in Hamburg 1618
The collections listed above have been reissued as Opus musicum, vols. 1–5, published in Frankfurt am Main 1623–25
21 arrangements of German chorale for 4 voices in Melodeyen Gesangbuch published by Praetorius in Hamburg 1606 (contains works by other composers)
25 works for 4–12 voices with Latin and German texts in collective prints from 1607–42
several works of uncertain authorship in manuscripts preserved mainly in Wolfenbüttel and Visby.
Editions:
organ works, ed. K. Beckmann in: Hieronim Praetorius Sämtliche Orgelwerke, vol. 1, Moos am Bodensee 1994; vol. 1–3, Mainz 2002
Hieronymus Praetorius: Collected Vocal Works, vol. 2 (Opus musicum: Magnificats and Five Motets), vol. 3 (Six Masses), ed. F.K. Gable, Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae 110, American Institute of Musicology 2008, 2014
17 works ed. H. Leichtentritt in Hieronim Praetorius Ausgewählte Werke, «Denkmäler Deutscher Tonkunst» XXIII, Leipzig 1905, reprint Graz 1959
11 works ed. F.K. Gable in Hieronim Praetorius Polychoral Motets, «Recent Researches in the Music of the Renaissance», Madison XVIII, XIX, 1974, 1974
Melodeyen Gesangbuch, ed. K. Ladda and K. Beckmann, Singen 1995